Improvement in liquid-meters



.UNITED STATES? PATENT OFFICE. I

y cnARLnsNrDA, orcnnnnvrnnn, NEW JnRsEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN LIQUID-METERS.

speeifwation'fbrming part of Letters Patent No. 94,235, dated August 31, 1869.

To a/,ZZ whom, it may conc-ern;

Beit known that I, CHARLES NIDA, of Green- Y ville, in the county of Hudson and State of New' Jersey, have invented a' new and -Improved )Vater-Heter; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description' of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to obtain a simple, economical, and efficient device to measure water as it iiows and is discharged from a pipe or Aoutlet under any suitable presseach consumer4 need not be taxed for any more water than he uses, or any more than the meter shows is consumed on his premises.

The essential requisites necessary to constitute a good and reliable water-meter are, first, the avoidance of all leakage of water during the passage of the same through the meter; Every particle or molecule previous to its discharge should be made to operate and perform its part in 'actuating the register. Second, a perfect automatic mechanism for operating the valve, by the movement of which theV passage of waterinto, through, and from the meter may be regulated or controlled, and the volume discharged noted or indicated by the register with the nicest accuracy. Third, simplicity in the construction and arrangement' of the operating mechanism, so that it will not be liable to get out of order or become deranged by use. These top View of the same with the cap or lid re-' moved; Fig. 3, `a vertical section of thesanie,

taken in the lline y y, Fig. 1, Fig.4, a horizontal section of the valve and its chest or box,

taken in the line z z, Fig. 8.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

To enable those skilled in theart to fully un' derstand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it. n

A represents the case of the meter, which is oblong in form and has semi-cylindrical ends.

lIhis probably would be the most'desirable shape, a correct idea of which may be obtained i by referring to Fig. 2. The case may be of rolled or cast iron-the latter material will probably be used-and it is provided with feet a, to afford space underneath for the induction and eduction pipes B C and the valve-chest D. (See Figs. l and 3.)

The construction of the valve E within the chest D will be fully understood by referring Y to Fig. 4. It is composed of circular disks l b b b b, placed on a stem, c, the disks being equal in diameter to the interior of the chest, which, internally, is cylindrical 'in form the.

vgreater portion of its length, a communication, cx, which is made between the valvechest and the case A, being the only departure of the chest froma cylindrical shape. (See Figs. l and 3.) The disks b b b b are designed to-work-water-tight, or 'as nearly so as practicable,within the chest D. The induction-pipe B is so located that it may, by means of forked or branched passages cx am, alternately communicate with two spaces, d (ZX, the

4rst,4 d,"being between the disks I) b ofthe.

valve in the valve-chest, and the other space, (ZX, being between the disks b b. lv(SeeFig. 4.) rlwo pipes, F F', communicate with said spaces d (ZX-,the pipe F with d and F withL1 dx. rlhese pipes F F also communicate at their opposite ends-one; F, with a chamber, G, and the other, F, with a similar chamber, G. (See Fig. l.) A

\ The chambers G G are constructed of india.

rubber or other'suitable elastic or yielding material whichwill admitl of being folded or Vexpanded and contracted, similar to bellows, and still be water tight.vr To insure the proper folding and unfolding (expanding and contracting) of theseV chambers, I place withini L is the center.

bers between the hoops or rings. (See Fig. l.) The lower ends ofthe chambers are permaN nently attached to the bottom of the case A; but their tops are not attached to any fixture, being left free to work up and down, and have circular disks or heads g, secured to them. The chambers are 'encompassed by perforated these rodspass and work freely through guides (see rig. i.)

In the lower part of the case A, directly underneath anld in a vertical plane with the rockshaft K, there is a similar shaft, L, which has four arms, j k Z Z, projecting. from it. V(See Fig. l.) The arm j extends upward, and has at its upper end a plate, fm, lwith a curved slot,

n, made in or throughit, saidslot being a portion of a circle of which the-axis of shaft 'shaft L at opposite sides of 'the same and at right angles with j, while the arm'k extends downward about in' line with j, and is connected at its lower end with the Valve-stem c, as shown clearly in Fig. 1,the arm k projecting through the passage or communication c,

which is `made for that purpose solely. l

0n the shaft K there -is secured an arm or bar, M, which extends at-equal-distances from opposite sides of K, and is connected at its ends with the outer ends of the arms Z Zby spiral springs 0 o. The arm or bar M has two segment-plates, p p, secured to it at opposite sides of the shaft K and at equal distances therefrom, the face sides r of said platesbeing parts of circles of which the shaftK is the center. The shaft K passes through the slot n in lplate m, and said shaft serves as a stop for the arm j, limiting the length of its throw or vibrations. At each end of plate m there-is a friction-roller, s, and these rollers work alter- "nately over the face sides r of the segmentplates p p. 3

The mechanism above described operates the valve E, as will be presently explained.

N is a pendant attached to a shaft, O, in the upper part of the cap or lid P of the case A. This pendant is forked at its lower end, as shown at tx, and al pin, c, which projects horizontally from the lever J, above the shaft .K,is tted in this fork tx'. The shaft O at one end extends through the side of the cap or lid, and said shaft is connected by any suitable gearing or mechanism which will note or register its vibrations.

rlhe operation is as follows: By referring to Fig. l it will be seen that the chamber G is fully expanded, and the other chamber, GQ in a folded or closed state. G therefore'is filled with water, and G empty, the chamber G expanded and lled under the advent of the wa- The arms Z Z extend from the.

ter which passed through pipe F, (pipe F at the Ytime being cut off fromthe valve-chest,) the space Z of the valve being inline with pipe F and the passage ax of the induction-pipeF.A

VThe water therefore passed through B into d,

and thence through F into G, expanding and raising the same. (See arrows l.) During thisexpanding and upward movement ofthe chamber G the lever J. was actuated so as to stretch the spring o, which is connected to the rising end of said lever, or, rather, which was the rising end when the chamber G was being lled, and as soon as the segment-plate Ap, at

the end of the arm or bar M, which rose with the end of lever J, reached a point above the roller s, the most elevated one of plate m,'(the position of the parts as now described is shown in Fig. 1,) the spring o, now stretched or fully extended in consequence of its attachment to the arm t below it, throws the arm j over to a reverse position, so that the opposite end of the slot n in plate m will be in contact with the shaft K., The springs 0 0, therefore, itwill be seen, alternately operate orv throw thevalve E..

The shifting of the valve E, as above described, causes the space (Z between the disks b and b to beV thrown out of line with pipe F and the passage LX of the' vinduction-pipe B,

and the space (ZX between the disks b and b is brought in line with Athe pipe F' andA theA other passage cx cx of the' induction-pipe B,

and the water therefore enters the chamber G', as indicated by the arrows 2, raising or ex-Y panding said chamber, while the water contained in G is, by the action of the lever J on the disk or head g of said chamberG, forced out of it through pipe F .into the space d of the valve-chamber D, and out from thence through pipe C, as indicated by the arrows 3. When the chamber G is fully expanded, the

valve E is thrown or moved by the other spring o to the position rst described, and represented in Fig. l, and the chamber G is'again raised or expanded by the passage of water into it. Thus it will be seen that bythe alternate filling and emptying of the chambers G G (which are measures of capacity) the quantity of water-which passes through the device may be correctly noted or registered by the connection of a suitable register with the lever J.

The segment-plates p p perform an important function, as they prevent the movement of the arm j .under the action of the springs o o at an improper time, said springs being inoperative,or not being allowed to act until the i plates p rise -above the rollers s, which they Aalternately do.

placed, in consequence of being perforated, as

previously stated, will be subjected to an equal pressure all around. Itwill be seen, therefore,

that when the chamber G or G is being compressed, and the water being expelled from it, the force by which the chamber is compressed or moved down is equal to the pressure of the other rising chamber; but in consequence of there being no resistance to the descentof the falling chamber, or the one being compressed, it descends or is compressed with a force due to the pressure of the water in A upon the exterior orupper surface of its disk or head g.

It will be understood, of course, that the water in the case A is stagnant-that is to say, is not in motionand it merely lserves as a medium to transmit force or power from the disk or head of one chamber to that of the other.

The register is connected with the pendant N, and may be constructed and arranged in any proper manner. A lever or pawl, t, for instance, may be attached to the end of the shaft O, which projects through the side of the cap or lid P, and said-lever or pawl madeto ,actuate a ratchet, Q. (See Fig. 3.)

I do not confine myself to any precisie mechanism for operating a register, for many plans may be devised for that purpose, and all answer equally well.

I would state that the hoops or rings e within the elastic or expanding and contracting chambers G G, in connection with the elastic bands f, insure the proper folding of said chambers as they are compressed. This will be under*4 stood by referring to Fig. 1, in which one chamber, G, is shown filled with water and fully expanded, and the other one, G', shown emp and fully compressed or folded.

I am aware that water-meters have been provided with chambers containing an elastic diaphragm; but, so far as I am aware, none havebeen made having the entire chamber so constructed and arranged that it will expand and contract, or fold and unfold, like bellows. I l

do not Vclaim broadly, therefore, an elastic or yielding material, irrespective ofthe construction and arrangement of the 4same, to operate as described.

I do not claim the valve E, nor any feature shown in the patent to J. Mason, dated Sep! tember 1-7, 1867, and Joseph Thomas, dated October 1, 1861; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The perforated cylinders surrounding the chambers G G, and the expanding chambers G G, provided with hoops e and elastic bands f, all arranged substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination and arrangement of the chambers G G, beam J, arm M, with plates p p, shaft K, four-armed lever j 7s Z Z, with slot n, and friction-rollers s s on shaft L, springs o o, all inclosed in a casing, A, and the valve E in chamber D, communicating with the chambers G G', and provided with induction and eduction pipes, all constructed to operate substantially as described.

CHAS. NIDA.

Vitnesses:

A. R. HAIGHT, i WM. F. MONAMARA. 

